Computer system, management method of the computer system, and program

ABSTRACT

Provided is a technique capable of efficient comprehensive management of a system, even if the system is a large-scale storage system. Management software acquires configuration information of a storage system (computer system) in two stages. In a first stage, the management software acquires only basic information of resources (identifiers of resources, the number of resources, and relationship between the resources) included in storage subsystems, host computers, switches, hubs, and the like. The management software determines a range and timing of acquiring detailed configuration information and necessity of holding the detailed configuration information based on the acquired basic information. In a second stage, the management software acquires the detailed configuration information of an appropriate range at appropriate timing. The management software always holds the basic information, but holds the detailed information only necessary to hold.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATIONS

Japan Priority Application 2011-014257, filed Jan. 26, 2011, includingthe specification, drawings, claims and abstract, is incorporated hereinby reference in its entirety. This application is a Continuation of U.S.application Ser. No. 13/130,001 (National Stage of PCT/JP2011/053322),filed May 18, 2011, incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a computer system, a management methodof the computer system, and a program, and for example, to configurationmanagement of a management target in a computer system.

BACKGROUND ART

In recent years, an amount of data used by companies and individuals israpidly increasing. Therefore, a storage system that connects storagedevices (hereinafter, also described as storage subsystems) and hostcomputers through switches and hubs and that uses a technique, such asSAN (Storage Area Network) or NAS (Network Attached Storage), capable offlexible data management is widely used.

Furthermore, in recent years, reduction in the operation cost of thestorage system (also referred to as a computer system) is an importantissue along with the complication of the storage system. An example of amethod for solving the issue includes a method of comprehensivelymanaging the configuration of the storage system, such as the storagesubsystems, the host computers, the switches, and the hubs, bymanagement software. An example of such a method includes a methoddisclosed in Patent Literature 1. The manager of the storage system canuse the technique to perform a management operation, such as referringto the linkage of storage resources from a plurality of storagesubsystems to a plurality of host computers or allocating a new resourcefrom a storage subsystem to a host computer, based on a single piece ofmanagement software. According to the technique, the manager can alsocomprehensively manage the storage system including the storagesubsystems, the host computers, the switches, the hubs, and the like,based on a single piece of management software.

CITATION LIST Patent Literature

Patent Literature 1: JP Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2002-63063A

Patent Literature 2: JP Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2004-5370A

Patent Literature 3: JP Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2005-250925A

SUMMARY OF INVENTION Technical Problem

Meanwhile, the number of the storage subsystems, the host computers, andthe like arranged in a data center of a company or the like isincreasing in recent years, and the storage system is enlarged.

However, the management software always holds all configurationinformation of the storage system in the methods of the conventionaltechniques represented by Patent Literature 1. Therefore, there is aproblem that not all storage subsystems and host computers in the datacenter can be managed by a single piece of management software due to alack of resources, such as a memory included in a management computer.Furthermore, even if the management is possible, there is a problem thatthe processing time of the management software is long when a managementoperation is performed, and the efficiency of the management is reduced.

The present invention has been made in view of the circumstances, andthe present invention provides a technique capable of efficientcomprehensive management of a system, even if the system is alarge-scale storage system.

Solution to Problem

To solve the problems, management software in the present inventionacquires configuration information of a storage system (computer system)in two stages. In a first stage, the management software acquires onlybasic information of resources (including only fixed information inwhich values do not change during system operation unless the resourcesare added or changed, such as identifiers of resources, the number ofresources, and relationship between the resources) included in storagesubsystems, host computers, switches, hubs, and the like. The managementsoftware determines a range and timing of acquiring detailedconfiguration information and necessity of holding the detailedconfiguration information based on the acquired basic information. In asecond stage, the management software acquires the detailedconfiguration information (including information in which values changeduring system operation) of an appropriate range at appropriate timing.The management software always holds the basic information, but holdsthe detailed information only necessary to hold.

More specifically, in the present invention, a management computeracquires constituent element basic configuration information at leastincluding identifiers of constituent elements of storage devices(storage subsystems) and host computers as well as correspondencerelationships between the constituent elements. Based on a detailedinformation acquisition rule indicating acquisition conditions andacquisition methods for acquiring detailed configuration information ofthe constituent elements that changes as the computer system isoperated, the management computer acquires the detailed configurationinformation corresponding to the constituent element basic configurationinformation.

The detailed information acquisition rule is constituted by combinationsof the plurality of acquisition conditions and the plurality ofacquisition methods corresponding to the acquisition conditions.Information of the acquisition methods includes information related to arange and timing of acquiring the detailed configuration information. Inthis case, the management computer determines, for each of the pluralityof acquisition conditions, whether there is the constituent elementsatisfying the acquisition condition and acquires the detailedconfiguration information based on the determination result and thecorresponding acquisition method.

Part of further features related to the present invention is specifiedin the following description, and part of the further features willbecome apparent from the description or can be learned from theimplementation of the present invention. Modes of the present inventionare attained and realized by elements and combinations of variouselements as well as by the following detailed description and modes ofthe attached claims.

The foregoing and following description is for typical description, andit needs to be understood that the description does not limit the claimsor applications of the present invention in any sense.

Advantageous Effects of Invention

According to the present invention, a system can be efficiently andcomprehensively managed even if the system is a large-scale storagesystem (computer system).

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a computersystem (storage system) according to a first embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of configuration of a storageconfiguration information table group.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of configuration of a volumeallocation table.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of configuration of a physicalresource allocation table.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of configuration of aconfiguration information table group.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of configuration of a storageinformation table.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of configuration of a volumeinformation table.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of configuration of a poolinformation table.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of configuration of a physicalresource information table.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of configuration of a hostinformation table.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of configuration of a hostrelationship information table.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of configuration of a volumeallocation information table.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of configuration of aninformation acquisition condition table.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example of configuration of a managementtask table.

FIG. 15 is a flow chart for explaining a process of registering astorage subsystem or a host computer as a management target ofmanagement software.

FIG. 16 is a flow chart for explaining a process of determining a rangeand timing for the management software to acquire information from thestorage subsystem or the host computer.

FIG. 17 is a flow chart for explaining a process by the managementsoftware acquiring information from the storage subsystem or the hostcomputer.

FIG. 18 is a flow chart for explaining a process of registering, in themanagement software, a management operation for the storage subsystem orthe host computer.

FIG. 19 is a flow chart for explaining a process by the managementsoftware executing a management operation for the storage subsystem orthe host computer.

FIG. 20 is a flow chart for explaining a process by the managementsoftware receiving information of a failure in the storage subsystem orthe host computer.

FIG. 21 is a flow chart for explaining a process by the managementsoftware displaying information of the storage subsystem or the hostcomputer.

FIG. 22 is a diagram showing an example of configuration of a userinterface (resource list display) according to the present invention.

FIG. 23 is a diagram showing an example of configuration of a userinterface (detailed display of logical volume) according to the presentinvention.

FIG. 24 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a computersystem according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 25 is a diagram showing an example of configuration of a storageconfiguration information table group according to the secondembodiment.

FIG. 26 is a diagram showing an example of configuration of a physicalresource allocation table according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 27 is a diagram showing an example of configuration of a copyinformation table according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 28 is a diagram showing an example of configuration of aninformation acquisition condition table according to the secondembodiment.

FIG. 29 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a computersystem according to a third embodiment.

FIG. 30 is a diagram showing an example of configuration of aconfiguration information table group according to the third embodiment.

FIG. 31 is a diagram showing an example of configuration of aninformation last update date/time table according to the thirdembodiment.

FIG. 32 is a diagram showing an example of configuration of aninformation acquisition condition table according to the thirdembodiment.

FIG. 33 is a diagram showing an example of configuration of aninformation holding policy table according to the third embodiment.

FIG. 34 is a flow chart for explaining a process by the managementsoftware acquiring information from the storage subsystem or the hostcomputer according to the third embodiment.

FIG. 35 is a flow chart for explaining a process by the managementsoftware periodically acquiring information from the storage subsystemor the host computer according to the third embodiment.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described withreference to the attached drawings. In the attached drawings,functionally the same elements may be displayed by the same referencenumerals. Although the attached drawings illustrate specific embodimentsand examples of implementation according to the principle of the presentinvention, the attached drawings are for the understanding of thepresent invention and are not used to restrictively interpret thepresent invention.

Although the present embodiments describe the present invention indetail enough for those skilled in the art to carry out the presentinvention, other implementations and modes are also possible, and itneeds to be understood that changes in configurations and structures aswell as replacements of various elements are possible without departingfrom the range and the spirit of the technical concept of the presentinvention. Therefore, the following description should not beinterpreted restrictively.

Furthermore, as described below, the embodiments of the presentinvention may be implemented by software operated on a general-purposecomputer, or may be implemented by dedicated hardware or a combinationof software and hardware.

In an embodiment of the present invention, management software holdsconditions (hereinafter, described as information acquisitionconditions) for determining a range and timing of acquiring detailedinformation in configuration information of a storage system andcontrols acquisition of configuration information of the storage systembased on the conditions. The management software may hold theinformation acquisition conditions as data, or the informationacquisition conditions may be implemented as logic in a program. Theuser of the management software may input the information acquisitionconditions.

Examples of the information acquisition conditions include a condition,in which the management software always holds detailed information of astorage subsystem for which the user frequently executes a managementoperation, and a condition, in which the management software holdsdetailed information of only a resource with a failure and a resourcerelated to the resource for a storage subsystem with a crucial failurewithin 24 hours.

Although information of the present invention will be described in“table” formats in the following description, the information do nothave to be expressed by data structures based on tables, and theinformation may be expressed by data structures, such as a list, a DB,and a queue, or by other ways. Therefore, the “table,” the “list,” the“DB,” the “queue,” and the like may be simply called “information” toindicate independence from the data structure.

Expressions, such as “identification information,” “identifier,” “name,”“appellation,” and “ID,” can be used to describe the content of theinformation, and the expressions can replace each other.

Although a “program” serves as a subject (operational entity) todescribe processes in the embodiments of the present invention, theprogram is executed by a processor to execute a predetermined processwhile using a memory and a communication port (communication controlapparatus). Therefore, the processor may serve as a subject in thedescription. A process disclosed with the program serving as the subjectmay be a process executed by a computer or information processingapparatus such as a management server. Part or the entire program may berealized by dedicated hardware or may be modularized. Various programsmay be installed on computers through a program distribution server orstorage media.

A. First Embodiment Configuration of Computer System

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a computersystem according to a first embodiment of the present invention. Acomputer system 100 includes storage subsystems 1000, a host computer2000, a switch apparatus 3000, a management computer 4000, and a switchapparatus 5000. In FIG. 1, there are two storage subsystems 1000, onehost computer 2000, one switch apparatus 3000, one management computer4000, and one switch apparatus 5000. However, the arrangement is notlimited to this as long as there is one or more of each component.

A network connection is formed between the storage subsystems 1000 andthe host computer 2000 through the switch apparatus 3000. A networkconnection is formed between the storage subsystems 1000, the hostcomputer 2000, and the management computer 4000 through the switchapparatus 5000. The switch apparatus 3000 and the switch apparatus 5000may be the same apparatuses. The switch apparatus 5000 may be dividedinto an apparatus that connects the storage subsystems 1000 and themanagement computer 4000 and an apparatus that connects the hostcomputer 2000 and the management computer 4000.

The switch apparatus 5000 includes an I/F(A) 5100 for connection withthe storage subsystems 1000, an I/F(B) 5200 for connection with themanagement computer 4000, and an I/F(C) 5300 for connection with thehost computer 2000. An example of a network protocol used between thestorage subsystems 1000, the management computer 4000, the host computer2000, and the switch apparatus 5000 that connects the subsystems and thecomputers includes, but not limited to, TCP/IP. In FIG. 1, there are oneI/F(A) 5100, one I/F(B) 5200, and one I/F(C) 5300. However, thearrangement is not limited to this as long as there is one or more ofeach component.

Although FIG. 1 illustrates the management computer 4000 and the storagesubsystems 1000 as different apparatuses, the arrangement is not limitedto this. The management computer 4000 may be in the same enclosure asthe storage subsystems 1000.

(i) Storage Subsystem

The storage subsystem 1000 includes a disk apparatus 1100 and a diskcontroller 1200.

The disk apparatus 1100 includes physical resources 1121 and pools 1120.The physical resources 1121 denote resources of storage regions providedby a physical device, such as an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) or an SSD (SolidState Drive). However, the type of the physical device that provides thephysical resources 1121 is not particularly limited. The pools 1120 aregroups of the physical resources 1121. In general, a technique calledRAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks) is used to make the physicalresources 1121 redundant to form the pools 1120. However, thearrangement is not limited to this as long as there are one or moregroups of the physical resources 1121. In FIG. 1, there are four pools1120 and five physical resources 1121. However, the arrangement is notlimited to this as long as there is one or more of each. For example,the pools 1120 connected to a logical volume 1110(1) are constituted bythe RAID, and the pools 1120 connected to a logical volume 1110(2) areconfigured to provide a virtual volume based on a Thin Provisioningtechnique. However, the arrangement is not limited to this. Both may beconstituted by the RAID, or both may be configured to provide virtualvolumes.

The disk controller 1200 includes a memory 1210, a control apparatus(also referred to as a processor) 1220, an I/F (Interface) 1230 forconnection with the switch apparatus 3000, an I/F(B) 1240 for connectionwith the switch apparatus 5000, and a disk I/F 1250 for connection withthe disk apparatus. These constituent elements are connected through abus.

The disk controller 1200 further includes logical volumes 1110. Thelogical volumes 1110 denote logical storage regions constituted by oneor more physical resources and provided to the host computer 2000 by thedisk controller 1200. A logical volume 1110(1) is constituted by one ora plurality of physical resources 1121 allocated in advance, and thecapacity of the logical volume 1110(1) and the total capacity of thephysical resources 1121 constituting the logical volume 1110(1) areequal. However, if the physical resources are made redundant by theRAID, the capacity of the logical volume 1110(1) may be smaller than thetotal capacity of the physical resources 1121 constituting the logicalvolume 1110(1). Meanwhile, a logical volume 1110(2) is a virtual logicalvolume provided to the host computer 2000, and the physical resources1121 are allocated in response to a writing request from the hostcomputer 2000. Specifically, when a writing request of data to thelogical volume 1110(2) is received, the disk controller 1200 allocatesstorage regions of the physical resources 1121 to the logical volume1100(2) if physical resources are not allocated to the target area ofthe writing request and writes the data in the allocated storage regionsof the physical resources. This can make the storage capacity of thelogical volume 1110(2) provided to the host computer 2000 larger thanthe total capacity of the physical resources 1121 actually allocated.Although the number of the two types of logical volumes 1110 is one eachin FIG. 1, the arrangement is not limited to this. Only one of the twotypes may exist, or the two types may be mixed, as long as there are oneor more logical volumes 1110.

The memory 1210 stores programs and data used by the control apparatus1220. Particularly, the memory 1210 includes a storage informationacquisition program 1211, a storage configuration information tablegroup 1212, and a storage failure notification program 1213.

The storage information acquisition program 1211 is a program forcollecting configuration information of the storage subsystems 1000 andtransmitting the information to other programs.

The storage configuration information table group 1212 is a set oftables storing the configuration information of the storage subsystems1000.

The storage failure notification program 1213 is a program for notifyinganother program (configuration management program 4110) of informationof a failure in the storage subsystems 1000. An example of a type offailure includes, but not limited to, a malfunction of a physical devicethat provides the physical resources 1121.

The control apparatus 1220 controls execution of programs andinput/output of data in the memory 1210 and controls input/output ofdata and control commands through the I/Fs included in the diskcontroller 1200.

The storage subsystem 1000 further has general functions of storagedevices, such as a function of forming the pools 1120 from the physicalresources 1121, a function of generating the logical volumes 1110 fromthe pools 1120, a function of allocating logical volumes to the hostcomputer 2000 through the I/F(A) 1230, and a function of receiving arequest for changing the configuration or setting of the storagesubsystem 1000 from the management computer 4000.

The storage subsystem 1000 may further include an input device for theuser of the storage subsystem 1000 to input data and an output devicefor presenting information to the user of the storage subsystem 1000.However, the devices are not directly related to the present inventionand are not illustrated.

(ii) Host Computer

The host computer 2000 includes a memory 2100, a control apparatus (alsoreferred to as a processor) 2200, an I/F(A) 2300 for connection with theswitch apparatus 3000, and an I/F(B) 2400 for connection with the switchapparatus 5000. The constituent elements are connected through a bus.The memory 2100 stores programs and data used by the control apparatus2200. Particularly, the memory 2100 includes an application program2110, a host information acquisition program, and a host failurenotification program.

The application program 2110 may be any program.

The host information acquisition program 2120 is a program forcollecting configuration information of the host computer 2000 andtransmitting the information to another program (configurationmanagement program 4110). The host information acquisition program maybe a program different from an OS (Operating System) or may be realizedas a function of the OS.

The host failure notification program 2130 is a program for notifyinganother program (configuration management program 4110) of informationof a failure in the host computer 2000. An example of a type of failureincludes, but not limited to, a malfunction of the memory 2100.

The control apparatus 2200 controls execution of programs andinput/output of data in the memory 2100 and controls input/output ofdata and control commands through the I/F(A) 2300.

The host computer 2000 may further include an input device (such as akeyboard, a mouse, or other pointing devices and voice input devices)for the user of the host computer 2000 to input data, an output device(such as a display device, a printer, and a voice output device) forpresenting information to the user of the host computer 2000, and asecondary storage device for storing data. However, the devices are notdirectly related to the present invention and are not illustrated.

The switch apparatus 3000 includes an I/F(A) 3100 for connection withthe storage subsystems 1000 and an I/F(B) 3200 for connection with thehost computer 2000. Examples of a network protocol used between thestorage subsystems 1000, the host computer 2000, and the switchapparatus that connects the storage subsystems 1000 and the hostcomputer 2000 include, but not limited to, FC (Fibre Channel) and iSCSI.Although there are one I/F(A) 3100 and one I/F(B) 3200 in FIG. 1, thearrangement is not limited to this as long as there are one or moreI/Fs.

(iii) Management Computer

The management computer 4000 includes a memory 4100, a control apparatus(also referred to as a processor) 4200, and an I/F 4300 for connectionwith the switch apparatus 5000. The memory 4100 stores programs and dataused by the control apparatus 4200. For example, the memory 4100includes the configuration management program 4110, an informationcollection program 4120, a configuration information table group 4130,an information acquisition method determination program 4140, aninformation acquisition condition table 4150, and a management tasktable 4160.

The management computer 4000 may further include an input device for theuser of the management computer 4000 to input data, an output device forpresenting information to the user of the management computer 4000, anda secondary storage device for storing data. Various tables included inthe management computer 4000 may be held not only on the memory but alsoon the secondary storage device.

The configuration management program 4110 is a program for managing theconfigurations of the storage subsystems 1000 and the host computer2000. The configuration management program 4110 has, for example, afunction of collecting configuration information of the storagesubsystems 1000 and the host computer 2000 through the informationcollection program 4120 and a function of receiving information relatedto failures in the storage subsystems 1000 and the host computer 2000from the storage failure notification program 1213 and the host failurenotification program 2130. The configuration management program 4110further has general functions of a management computer, such as afunction of forming the pools 1120 from the physical resources 1121, afunction of generating the logical volumes 1110 from the pools 1120, afunction allocating the logical volumes 1110 to the host computer 2000through the I/F(A) 1230, and a scheduler function of executing aspecific process at a specific time. The configuration managementprogram 4110 also provides a user interface for displaying theconfiguration information of the storage subsystems 1000 and the hostcomputer 2000 and performing a management operation for the storagesubsystems 1000 and the host computer 2000.

The information collection program 4120 is a program for collecting theconfiguration information of the storage subsystems 1000 and the hostcomputer 2000. The information collection program 4120 has a function ofacquiring the configuration information of the storage subsystems 1000through communication with the storage information acquisition program1211 included in the storage subsystems 1000 and a function of acquiringthe configuration information of the host computer 2000 throughcommunication with the host information acquisition program 2120included in the host computer 2000.

The configuration information table group 4130 is a set of tables forstoring the configuration information of the storage subsystems 1000 andthe host computer 2000.

The information acquisition method determination program 4140 is aprogram for determining a method of acquiring information when theinformation collection program 4120 collects information from thestorage subsystems 1000 and the host computer 2000. In the presentembodiment, the method of acquiring information includes a range of aninformation acquisition target and timing of acquiring the information.

The information acquisition condition table 4150 is a table indicatingconditions and information acquisition methods when the informationcollection program 4120 collects information from the storage subsystems1000 and the host computer 2000.

The management task table 4160 is a table for storing information ofmanagement tasks executed by the configuration management program 4110.

A serial interface or an Ethernet interface may serve as an input/outputdevice as an alternative to the input device and the display device(output device) included in the management computer 4000. A computer fordisplay including a display, a keyboard, or a pointer device may beconnected to the interface to transmit information for display to thecomputer for display or to receive information for input from thecomputer for display. In this way, the display or reception of input bythe computer for display may replace the input and display by theinput/output device.

The memory 1210 of the storage subsystem 1000 may include the programsin the memory 4100 of the management computer 4000, and the controlapparatus 1220 may execute the programs to realize the same functions asthe management computer 4000. The management computer 4000 may furtherinclude programs for managing the switch apparatus 3000 and the switchapparatus 5000.

Hereinafter, a set of one or more computers that manage the computersystem 100 and that display the information for display of the presentinvention will be called a management system in some cases. Themanagement computer 4000 serves as the management system when themanagement computer 4000 displays the information for display, and acombination of the management computer 4000 and the computer for displayalso serves as the management system. A plurality of computers mayrealize the same processes as the management computer for fast andhighly reliable management processes, and in that case, the plurality ofcomputers (including the computer for display when the computer fordisplay performs the display) serve as the management system.

<Storage Configuration Information Table Group>

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a specific example of the storageconfiguration information table group 1212 in the storage subsystem. Inthe present embodiment, the storage configuration information tablegroup 1212 includes a volume allocation table 12120 and a physicalresource allocation table 12121.

The volume allocation table 12120 is a table storing information of thelogical volumes 1110 allocated to the host computer 2000.

The physical resource allocation table 12121 is a table storinginformation of physical resource allocation to segments of the logicalvolumes 1110.

<Example of Configuration of Volume Allocation Table>

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a specific example of configuration of thevolume allocation table 12120. The volume allocation table 12120includes, as configuration items, an Initiator ID 121200 for identifyingthe I/F(A) 2300 included in the host computer, a Target ID 121201 foridentifying the I/F(A) 1230 included in the storage subsystems 1000, andan LUN (Logical Unit Number) 121202 for identifying the logical volumes1110.

Although a WWN (World Wide Name) of the I/F(A) 2300 included in the hostcomputer 2000 and a WWN of the I/F(A) 1230 included in the storagesubsystems 1000 are used to indicate the Initiator ID 121200 and theTarget ID 121201 in FIG. 3, the arrangement is not limited to this aslong as the information can uniquely identify the I/F(A) 2300 includedin the host computer 2000 and the I/F(A) 1230 included in the storagesubsystems 1000. Although the LUN 121202 is used as an identifier of thelogical volumes 1110 in FIG. 3, the arrangement is not limited to thisas long as the information can uniquely identify the logical volumes1110.

<Example of Configuration of Physical Resource Allocation Table>

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of configuration of the physicalresource allocation table 12121 according to the present embodiment. Thephysical resource allocation table 12121 includes, as configurationitems, an LUN 121210 for identifying the logical volumes 1110, a segmentID 121211 for identifying the segments in the logical volumes, a volumeLBA (Logical Block Address) area 121212 for identifying areas of thesegments of the logical volumes 1110, a physical resource ID 121213 foridentifying the physical resources 1121 allocated to the segments of thelogical volumes 1110, and an LBA area 121214 for identifying storageregions of the physical resources 1121 allocated to the segments of thelogical volumes 1110.

The LUN 121210, the segment ID 121211, and the physical resource ID121213 are information that can uniquely identify the logical volumes1110, the segments in the logical volumes 1110, and the physicalresources 1121, respectively. Therefore, the information is not limitedto the information described in FIG. 3, and other information may beused.

The volume LBA area 121212 and the LBA area 121214 are not limited tothe information described in FIG. 3, and other information may be usedas long as the information can uniquely identify the areas of thesegments of the logical volumes 1110 and the storage regions in thephysical resources 1121.

In FIG. 4, a line with “-” stored in the fields of the physical resourceID 121213 and the LBA area 121214 (line indicated by the LUN 121210 “2”and the segment ID 121211 “2”) indicates that there is not yet a writingrequest from the host computer 2000 to part of the segments of thevirtual logical volume 1110(2) provided to the host computer 2000, andtherefore, the storage regions of the physical resources 1121 are notyet allocated to the segments.

<CONFIGURATION INFORMATION TABLE GROUP>

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a specific example of the configurationinformation table group 4130. In the present embodiment, theconfiguration information table group 4130 includes a storageinformation table 4131, a volume information table 4132, a poolinformation table 4133, a physical resource information table 4134, ahost information table 4135, a host relationship information table 4136,and a volume allocation information table 4137.

The storage information table 4131 is a table storing information of thestorage subsystems 1000.

The volume information table 4132 is a table storing information of thelogical volumes 1110 included in the storage subsystems 1000.

The pool information table 4133 is a table storing information of thepools 1120 included in the storage subsystems 1000.

The physical resource information table 4134 is a table storinginformation of the physical resources 1121 included in the storagesubsystems 1000.

The host information table 4135 is a table storing information of thehost computer 2000.

The host relationship information table 4136 is a table storinginformation indicating a relationship between a host computer 2000 andanother host computer 2000.

The volume allocation information table 4137 is a table indicating arelationship between the host computer 2000 and the logical volumes 1110allocated to the host computer 2000.

<Example of Configuration of Storage Information Table>

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a specific example of configuration of thestorage information table 4131. The storage information table 4131includes, as configuration items, a storage ID 41310 for identifying thestorage subsystems 1000, a total capacity 41311 of the pools 1120included in the storage subsystems 1000, a total free capacity 41312 ofthe pools 1120 included in the storage subsystems 1000, a total numberof volumes 41313 as a total number of the logical volumes 1110 includedin the storage subsystems 1000, a last failure date/time 41314indicating the date/time of the last failures in the storage subsystems1000, a management operation frequency 41315 indicating the frequency ofthe management operations executed for the storage subsystems 1000, andan implementation year/month/day 41316 indicating the year/month/day ofthe implementation of the storage subsystems 1000.

In the storage information table 4131, the storage ID 41310 and thetotal number of volumes 41313 constitute basic information. The lastfailure date/time 41314 is information notified from the storagesubsystems 1000 or the host computer 2000 upon failure and is notincluded in the detailed information that the management computer 4000acquires. The management operation frequency 41315 is not detailedinformation, but is information indicating the frequency of operationsrelated to the management that are executed for the storage subsystems1000 by the management software in the past. The implementationyear/month/day 41316 is information of the start of operation of theinstalled storage and is inputted by, for example, the manager (user).

In FIG. 6, “null” is stored in items for which the information is notacquired (for example, the total capacity 41311 of the line with thestorage ID “ST.1”). The method indicating that the information is notacquired is not limited to this, and other methods may be used. Theinformation of the storage information table 4131 is not limited to theinformation shown in FIG. 6, and other information of the storagesubsystems 1000 may be stored.

<EXAMPLE OF CONFIGURATION OF VOLUME INFORMATION TABLE>

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a specific example of configuration of thevolume information table 4132. The volume information table 4132includes, as configuration items, a storage ID 41320 for identifying thestorage subsystems 1000, a volume ID 41321 for identifying the logicalvolumes 1110, a capacity 41322 of the logical volumes 1110, a RAID level41323 of the logical volumes 1110, a media type 41324 of the physicalresources 1121 as providers of the storage regions of the logicalvolumes 1110, a pool ID 41325 for identifying the pools 1120 as cut-outsources of the logical volumes 1110, and a state 41326 of the logicalvolumes 1110. In the table, the storage ID 41320, the volume ID 41321,and the pool ID 41325 are basic information acquired first. Meanwhile,the total capacity 41322, the RAID level 41323, the media type 41324,and the state 41326 are detailed information, and “null” is inserted tothe fields before the acquisition of the information.

The RAID level 41323 is information indicating the type of a RAIDtechnique applied to the pools 1120 as the cut-out sources of thelogical volumes 1110. In other words, the RAID level 41323 isinformation indicating the degree of redundancy of the logical volumes1110. The state 41326 is information indicating the operation state ofthe logical volumes 1110.

In FIG. 7, “null” is stored in the items for which the information isnot acquired (such as the capacity 41322 of the line with the storage ID“ST.1” and the volume ID “LU.1”). The method indicating that theinformation is not acquired is not limited to this, and other methodsmay be used. In FIG. 7, one of the values “null”, “normal”, and “error”is stored in the state 41326. However, the values are not limited tothese as long as the information indicates the operation state of thelogical volumes 1110. The information of the volume information table4132 is not limited to the information shown in FIG. 7, and otherinformation of the logical volumes 1110 may be stored.

<Example of Configuration of Pool Information Table>

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a specific example of configuration of thepool information table 4133. The pool information table 4133 includes,as configuration items, a storage ID 41330 for identifying the storagesubsystems 1000, a pool ID 41331 for identifying the pools 1120, acapacity 41332 of the pools 1120, a free capacity 41333 of the pools1120, a pool type 41334 indicating the types of the pools 1120, and astate 41335 of the pools 1120. In the table, the storage ID 41330 andthe pool ID 41331 are basic information acquired first. Meanwhile, thetotal capacity 41332, the free capacity 41333, the pool type 41334, andthe state 41335 are detailed information, and “null” is inserted to thefields before the acquisition of the information.

When FIG. 7 is described in related to FIG. 8, since the LU is cut outfrom the pool, it can be understood that, for example, as for thestorage ID 41320 “ST.2” and the volume ID 41321 “LU.1”, LU.1 of ST.2 isformed by cutting out the capacity 100 GB from the pool ID 41331“Pool.1” with the capacity 41332 “2 TB”.

In FIG. 8, “null” is stored in the items for which the information isnot acquired (such as the capacity 41332 of the line with the storage ID“ST.1” and the pool ID “Pool.1”). The method indicating that theinformation is not acquired is not limited to this, and other methodsmay be used. Although one of the values “null”, “RAID group”, and “ThinProvisioning pool” is stored in the pool type 41334 in FIG. 8, thevalues are not limited to these as long as the information indicates thetypes of the pools.

In the present embodiment, the pool 1120 in which the pool type 41334 is“RAID group” indicates a pool that allows allocation of the capacity ofone or a plurality of physical resources 1121 in advance to the logicalvolume 1110(1). The pool 1120 in which the pool type 41334 is “ThinProvisioning pool” indicates a pool that allows allocation of thephysical resources 1121 to the logical volume 1110(2) in response to awriting request from the host computer 2000. Although one of the values“null”, “normal”, and “error” is stored in the state 41335 in FIG. 8,the values are not limited to these as long as the information indicatesthe operation state of the pools 1120. The information of the poolinformation table 4133 is not limited to the information shown in FIG.8, and other information of the pools 1120 may be stored.

<Physical Resource Information Table>

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a specific example of configuration of thephysical resource information table. The physical resource informationtable 4134 includes, as configuration items, a storage ID 41340 foridentifying the storage subsystems 1000, a physical resource ID 41341for identifying the physical resources 1121, a pool ID 41342 foridentifying the pools 1120 to which the physical resources 1121 areallocated, a capacity 41343 of the physical resources 1121, a media type41344 indicating the types of provider media of the storage regions inthe physical resources 1121, the number of disk rotations 41345 of theprovider media of the storage regions in the physical resources 1121,and a state 41346 of the physical resources 1121. In the table, thestorage ID 41340, the physical resource ID 41341, and the pool ID 41342are basic information acquired first. Meanwhile, the capacity 41343, themedia type 41344, the number of disk rotations 41345, and the state41346 are detailed information, and “null” is inserted to the fieldsbefore the acquisition of the information.

In FIG. 9, “null” is stored in the items for which the information isnot acquired (such as the capacity 41343 of the line with the storage ID“ST.1” and the physical resource ID “Drive.1”). The method indicatingthat the information is not acquired is not limited to this, and othermethods may be used. Although one of the values “null”, “SATA”, and“SSD” is stored in the media type 41344 in FIG. 9, the values are notlimited to these as long as the information indicates the types of themedia.

In the present embodiment, “n/a” is stored in the number of diskrotations 41345 if the media type 41344 is “SSD”. This indicates thatthe rotation of disk is impossible because there is no disk in the SSD.The method indicating that there is no rotation of disk is not limitedto this, and other methods of expression may be used.

Although one of the values “null”, “normal”, and “error” is stored inthe state 41346 in FIG. 9, the values are not limited to these as longas the information indicates the operation state of the physicalresources 1121. For example, “error” is inserted when there is amalfunction in the storage subsystems, the storage controller board, orthe like. The information of the physical resource information table4134 is not limited to the information shown in FIG. 9, and otherinformation of the physical resources 1121 may be stored.

<Example of Configuration of Host Information Table>

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a specific example of configuration of thehost information table. The host information table 4135 includes, asconfiguration items, a host ID 41350 for identifying the host computers2000, an IP address 41351 allocated to the host computers 2000, a hostname 41352 of the host computers 2000, a host type 41353 indicating thetypes of the host computers 2000, and a state 41354 of the hostcomputers 2000. In the table, the host ID 41350 and the IP address 41351are basic information acquired first. Meanwhile, the host name 41352,the host type 41353, and the state 41354 are detailed information, and“null” is inserted to the fields before the acquisition of theinformation.

In FIG. 10, “null” is stored in the items for which the information isnot acquired (such as the host name 41352 of the line with the host ID“Host.1”). The method indicating that the information is not acquired isnot limited to this, and other methods may be used. Although IPaddresses of the host computers 2000 are stored in the host informationtable 4135 in the present information, the information is not limited tothis as long as the information indicates network addresses of the hostcomputers 2000.

In FIG. 10, one of the values “null”, “cluster”, “node”, “physicalserver”, “hypervisor”, and “virtual server” is stored in the host type41353. However, the values are not limited to these as long as theinformation indicates the types of the host computers 2000. The clusterdenotes a logical host computer formed by making a plurality of hostcomputers redundant, and the node denotes a host computer included inthe cluster. The hypervisor denotes a host computer including a servervirtualization function. The virtual server denotes a virtual hostcomputer constructed on the hypervisor.

Although one of the values “null”, “normal”, and “error” is stored inthe state 41354 in FIG. 10, the values are not limited to these as longas the information indicates the operation state of the host computers2000. The information of the host information table 4135 is not limitedto the information shown in FIG. 10, and other information of the hostcomputers 2000 may be stored.

<Example of Configuration of Host Relationship Information Table>

FIG. 11 is information indicating a specific example of configuration ofthe host relationship information table 4136. The host relationshipinformation table 4136 includes, as configuration items, a host ID 41360for identifying the host computers 2000, a related host ID 41361 foridentifying other host computers 2000 related to the host computers2000, and a relationship type 41362 indicating types of relationshipsbetween the host computers 2000 and the other host computers 2000. Inthe table, all configuration items are basic information.

In FIG. 11, one of the values “clusters (master/slave)”, “clusternodes”, “volume-shared hypervisors”, and “hypervisor and virtual server”is stored in the relationship type 41362. However, the values are notlimited to these as long as the information indicates the types of therelationships between the host computers 2000 and the other hostcomputers 2000. The “clusters (master/slave)” denotes a relationshipbetween a cluster and a host computer included in the cluster, and the“cluster nodes” denotes a relationship between the host computersincluded in the same cluster. The “volume-shared hypervisors” denotes arelationship between hypervisors provided with the same logical volumes1110 from the storage subsystems 1000 and sharing the volumes. The“hypervisor and virtual server” denotes a relationship between ahypervisor and a virtual server constructed on the hypervisor.

The information of the host relationship information table 4136 is notlimited to the information shown in FIG. 11, and other informationconcerning the relationships between the host computers 2000 and theother host computers 2000 may be stored.

<Example of Configuration of Volume Allocation Information Table>

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a specific example of configuration of thevolume allocation information table 4137. The volume allocationinformation table 4137 includes, as configuration items, a host ID 41370for identifying the host computers 2000, a storage ID 41371 foridentifying the storage subsystems 1000, and a volume ID 41372 foridentifying the logical volumes 1110. In the table, all configurationitems are basic information.

The information of the volume allocation information table 4137 is notlimited to the information shown in FIG. 12, and other informationconcerning the relationships between the host computers 2000 and thelogical volumes 1110 allocated to the host computers 2000 may be stored.

<Example of Configuration of Information Acquisition Condition Table>

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a specific example of configuration of theinformation acquisition condition table 4150. The informationacquisition condition table 4150 includes, as configuration items, acondition ID 41500 for identifying information acquisition conditions,an information acquisition condition 41501 indicating conditions foracquiring information, an information acquisition method 41502indicating methods of acquiring information, and a priority 41503 of theinformation acquisition conditions.

The condition ID 41500 is identification information for specifying theinformation acquisition conditions. The information acquisitioncondition 41501 is information for defining whether the managementcomputer 4000 acquires detailed information when a predeterminedcondition is satisfied or when a predetermined event is generated. Theinformation acquisition method 41502 is information for definingacquisition methods of the detailed information. The priority order41503 is information for defining the order of checking, which can beset by the manager.

For example, according to the information acquisition condition 41501defined as the condition ID=2, it can be understood that if there is amanagement task to be executed (task defined in FIG. 14), detailedinformation necessary to execute the management task needs to beacquired.

According to the information acquisition condition 41501 of thecondition ID=4, it can be understood that for a storage in which thetotal number of volumes is 5000 or less, detailed information isacquired when the storage is set. The total number of volumes isdetermined in consideration of an efficient balance betweendisadvantages in always (at the same time as the setting) acquiring thedetailed information and disadvantages in executing a process ofacquiring the detailed information when the detailed information isnecessary (for example, when the detailed information needs to bedisplayed). The value 5000 is merely an illustration, and the managercan freely set the value.

As described below, the information acquisition condition table 4150 ischecked, for example, when a management target is added (see FIG. 15),when the configuration management program 4110 periodically executes amanagement task for the storage subsystems 1000 or the host computers2000 (see FIG. 19), and when a notification of a failure is receivedfrom the storage subsystems 1000 or the host computers 2000 (FIG. 20).

Although conditions and methods described in a natural language arestored in the information acquisition condition 41501 and theinformation acquisition method 41502 in FIG. 13, the information is notlimited to this as long as the information indicates conditions andmethods of acquiring information. The conditions and methods ofacquiring information may be predetermined or may be inputted by theuser. The conditions and methods of acquiring information are notlimited to the ones shown in FIG. 13, and other conditions and methodsmay be used. In the present embodiment, the information acquisitioncondition table 4150 stores conditions and information acquisitionmethods when the information collection program 4120 collectsinformation from the storage subsystems 1000 or the host computers 2000.However, the arrangement is not limited to this, and for example, thesame information may be implemented in the information acquisitionmethod determination program 4140 as logic of processing.

<Example of Configuration of Management Task Table>

FIG. 14 is a specific example of configuration of the management tasktable 4160. The management task table 4160 includes, as configurationitems, a task ID 41600 for identifying management tasks, an executiondate/time 41601 of the management tasks, a target 41602 indicatingexecution target resources of the management tasks, and a task 41603indicating the management tasks. The manager can set the managementtasks defined in the management task table.

In FIG. 14, the target 41602 stores values connecting, by a symbol “:”,the IDs of resources as execution targets of the management targets.However, the values are not limited to these as long as the informationidentifies the execution target resources of the management targets.Although management tasks described in a natural language are stored inthe task 41603 in FIG. 14, the information is not limited to this aslong as the information indicates the management tasks.

The control apparatus 4200 controls execution of the programs in thememory 4100 as well as input/output of data and controls input/output ofdata as well as control commands through the I/F 4300.

<Management Registration Process>

FIG. 15 is a flow chart for explaining a process when the configurationmanagement program 4110 registers the storage subsystem 1000 or the hostcomputer 2000 as a management target according to the presentembodiment.

In step S1000, the manager (user) instructs registration of the storagesubsystem 1000 or the host computer 2000 as a management target of theconfiguration management program 4110 through the user interface of theconfiguration management program 4110, and the configuration managementprogram receives the instruction. In the present embodiment, if themanager (user) designates the storage subsystem 1000 or the hostcomputer 2000 already registered, it is assumed that the manager hasreacquired and updated the configuration information of the storagesubsystem 1000 or the host computer 2000 stored in the configurationinformation table group 4130.

In step S1010, the configuration management program 4110 refers to theconfiguration information table group 4130 to determine whether thebasic information of the storage subsystem 1000 or the host computer2000 designated by the user is already acquired. In the presentembodiment, the basic information denotes the identifiers of theresources, the number of resources, and the relationship between theresources.

If it is determined in step S1010 that the basic information is notacquired (No in step S1010), the process moves to step S1020, and theconfiguration management program 4110 instructs the informationcollection program 4120 to acquire the basic information from thestorage subsystem 1000 or the host computer 2000 designated by the userin step S1000.

In step S1030, the information collection program 4120 communicates withthe storage information acquisition program 1211 on the storagesubsystem 1000 or the host information acquisition program 2120 on thehost computer 2000 to acquire the basic information of the storagesubsystem 1000 or the host computer 2000 and stores the basicinformation in the configuration information table group 4130. Theprocess moves to step S1040 when the process is completed.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S1010 that the basicinformation is acquired (Yes in S1010), the process moves to step S1040.

In step S1040, the configuration management program 4110 instructs theinformation acquisition method determination program 4140 to execute thedetermination process of the information acquisition method. Theinformation acquisition method determination program 4140 determines amethod (range and timing) of acquiring the detailed information from thestorage subsystem 1000 or the host computer 2000 based on the basicinformation of the storage subsystem 1000 or the host computer 2000 andbased on the information stored in the information acquisition conditiontable 4150. The information acquisition method determination program4140 notifies the information collection program 4120 of the determinedinformation acquisition method. Details of the information acquisitionmethod determination process by the information acquisition methoddetermination program 4140 will be described later (see FIG. 16).

In step S1050, the configuration management program 4110 instructs theinformation collection program 4120 to execute an informationacquisition process for the storage subsystem 1000 or the host computer2000 based on the information acquisition method determined by theinformation acquisition method determination program 4140. Details ofthe information acquisition process will be described below (see FIG.17).

Lastly, in step S1060, the configuration management program 4110notifies the manager of the registration of the storage subsystem 1000or the host computer 2000 as a management target. Examples of the methodof notification include, but not limited to, a method of notificationthrough a user interface, such as GUI (Graphical User Interface) and CLI(Command Line Interface), and a method of outputting a message to thelog. In the present embodiment, if the configuration information (evenif the information is only the basic information) of the storagesubsystem 1000 or the host computer 2000 is stored in the configurationinformation table group, it is assumed that the storage subsystem 1000or the host computer 2000 is the management target of the configurationmanagement program 4110.

This completes the process of registering the storage subsystem 1000 orthe host computer 2000 as a management target of the configurationmanagement program 4110. The present process may not be executed at thetime when the user registers the storage subsystem 1000 or the hostcomputer 2000 as a management target of the configuration managementprogram 4110. More specifically, a technique such as SLP (ServiceLocation Protocol) may be used, and the configuration management program4110 may detect the existence of the storage subsystem 1000 or the hostcomputer 2000 connected through the switch apparatus 5000 to execute theregistration process at the time of the detection.

<Information Acquisition Method Determination Process>

FIG. 16 is a flow chart for explaining a process when the informationacquisition method determination program 4140 determines the method(range and timing) of acquiring information from the storage subsystem1000 or the host computer 2000 according to the present embodiment.

The information acquisition method determination program 4140 refers tothe information acquisition condition table 4150 in step S2000 andacquires one condition not checked yet in step S2010. In that case, theconditions are acquired in ascending order of the numbers of thepriority order 41503 (in descending order of the priority order) of theinformation acquisition condition table 4150 in the present embodiment.

In step S2010, the information acquisition method determination program4140 determines whether there is an unchecked condition.

If there is an unchecked condition (Yes in step S2010), the informationacquisition determination program 4140 sets the condition to “checked”and moves the process to step S2020.

In step S2020, the information acquisition method determination program4140 refers to the configuration information table group 4130 and theinformation acquisition condition table 4150 to compare the informationof the storage subsystem 1000 or the host computer 2000 with theinformation acquisition condition.

In step S2030, the information acquisition method determination program4140 determines whether there are resources satisfying the informationacquisition condition. In the present embodiment, if the process of FIG.16 is called out from step S1030 of FIG. 15, the information acquisitionmethod determination program 4140 targets the resources of the storagesubsystem 1000 or the host computer 2000 designated by the user in stepS1000 of FIG. 15 to determine whether there are the resources.Specifically, for example, if the user has designated one of the storagesubsystems 1000 in step S1000 of FIG. 15 and if the number of logicalvolumes included in the storage subsystem 1000 is 5000 or less, it isdetermined that the storage subsystem 1000 satisfies the informationacquisition condition (the information acquisition condition 41501 ofthe line in which the condition ID 41500 of the information acquisitioncondition table 4150 is “4”).

If there is no resource satisfying the information acquisition condition(No in step S2030), the process moves to step S2000. On the other hand,if there are resources satisfying the information acquisition condition(Yes in step S2030), the process moves to step S2040.

In step S2040, the information acquisition method determination program4140 instructs the information collection program 4120 to acquire theinformation of the resources satisfying the information acquisitioncondition at the timing described in the information acquisitioncondition table 4150. Specifically, for example, if the user hasdesignated one of the storage subsystems 1000 in step S1000 of FIG. 15,and if the number of the logical volumes included in the storagesubsystem 1000 is 5000 or less, the information acquisition methoddetermination program 4140 instructs the information collection program4120 to acquire detailed information of all resources included in thestorage and to hold the detailed information in the configurationinformation table group 4130. When the process of step S2040 iscompleted, the process moves to step S2000.

If it is determined in step S2010 that there is no unchecked informationacquisition condition (No in step S2010), the process moves to stepS2050.

In step S2050, the information acquisition method determination program4140 determines whether the process of step S2040 is executed once ormore.

If it is determined that the process of step S2040 is executed once ormore (Yes in step S2050), the information acquisition methoddetermination program 4140 ends the information acquisition methoddetermination process.

On the other hand, if the process of step S2040 is not executed once ormore, in other words, if no condition is stored in the informationacquisition condition table 4150 (No in step S2050), the informationacquisition method determination program 4140 instructs the informationcollection program 4120 to immediately acquire the detailed informationof all resources of the target storage subsystem 1000 or host computer2000. This is because the detailed information will not be acquiredforever if the process of step S2040 is not executed even once. If notall information acquisition conditions are met, the detailed informationof all resources is acquired as in the conventional technique.

This completes the process of determining the range and timing ofacquiring information from the storage subsystem 1000 or the hostcomputer 2000.

To promote a better understanding, a specific example will be used todescribe the process. First, it is assumed that a failure has occurredin one of the physical resources 1121 included in the storage subsystems1000 at 3:30:15 of Nov. 19, 2010. It is assumed that the storage failurenotification program 1213 transmits failure information concerning thephysical resources 1121 of the storage subsystem 1000 to theconfiguration management program 4110, and the configuration managementprogram 4110 holds the failure information in the physical resourceinformation table 4134. This is equivalent to a line indicated by thestorage ID 41340 “ST.2” and the physical resource ID 41341 “Drive.5”(line displayed “error”) in FIG. 9. Similarly, it is assumed thatdate/time of the failure is stored in the last failure date/time 41314of the storage information table 4131. This is equivalent to a lineindicated by the storage ID 41310 “ST.2” in FIG. 6.

If the information acquisition method determination program 4140 isoperated at 0:0:0 of Nov. 20, 2010, the information acquisition methoddetermination program 4140 determines that the condition of the lineindicated by the condition ID 41500 “1” among the conditions stored inthe information acquisition condition table shown in FIG. 13 is met(provided that the other conditions shown in FIG. 13 are not met).

As a result, the information acquisition method determination program4140 determines to acquire the detailed information of the physicalsource of the line indicated by the storage ID 41340 “ST.2” and thephysical resource ID 41341 “Drive.5” in FIG. 9 and the detailedinformation of the related resources and to hold the detailedinformation in the configuration information table group 4130. In thisway, since the detailed information of only the related resources isacquired during the failure, the related resources need to be specifiedfrom the tables. The related resources in the example include the poolof the line indicated by the storage ID 41330 “ST.2” and the pool ID41331 “Pool.1” in FIG. 8, the logical volume of the line indicated bythe storage ID 41320 “ST.2” and the volume ID 41321 “LU.1” in FIG. 7,the host computers of the lines indicated by the host ID 41370 “Host.7”and “Host.8” in FIG. 12, and the host computers indicated by the relatedhost ID 41361 “Host.9” and “Host.10” in FIG. 11.

<Information Acquisition Process>

FIG. 17 is a flow chart for explaining the process when the informationcollection program 4120 acquires information from the storage subsystem1000 or the host computer 2000 according to the present embodiment.

In step S3000, the information collection program 4120 determineswhether the target of the acquisition of information is the storagesubsystem 1000.

If the information acquisition target is not the storage subsystem 1000(No in step S3000), the process moves to step S3040. If the informationacquisition target is the storage subsystem 1000 (Yes in step S3000),the process moves to step S3010.

In step S3010, the information collection program 4120 requests thestorage information acquisition program 1211 on the storage subsystem1000 for the information of the storage subsystem 1000. In this case,the information collection program 4120 requests for the information ofthe range determined by the information acquisition method determinationprogram 4140 to acquire the detailed information. The informationcollection program 4120 does not request for the information of therange determined by the information acquisition method determinationprogram 4140 to acquire the detailed information if the timing ofacquiring the information (acquisition condition of FIG. 13) is notsatisfied at the point of the process.

In step S3020, the information collection program 4120 receivesinformation of the storage subsystem 1000 transmitted from the storageinformation acquisition program 1211 in response to the request of stepS3010.

In step S3030, the information collection program 4120 stores theinformation of the storage subsystem 1000 in the configurationinformation table group 4130.

Meanwhile, in step S3040, the information collection program 4120determines whether the information acquisition target is the hostcomputer 2000.

If the information acquisition target is not the host computer 2000 (Noin step S3040), the information collection program 4120 ends theinformation acquisition process. On the other hand, if the informationacquisition target is the host computer 2000 (Yes in step S3040), theprocess moves to step S3050.

In step S3050, the information collection program 4120 requests the hostinformation acquisition program 2120 for the information of the hostcomputer 2000. In this case, the information collection program 4120requests for the information of the range determined by the informationacquisition method determination program 4140 to acquire the detailedinformation. The information collection program 4120 does not requestfor the information of the range determined by the informationacquisition method determination program 4140 to acquire the detailedinformation if the timing of acquiring the information is not satisfiedat the point of the process.

In step S3060, the information collection program 4120 receives theinformation of the host computer 2000 transmitted from the hostinformation acquisition program 2120 in response to the request of stepS3050.

In step S3070, the information collection program 4120 stores theinformation of the host computer 2000 in the configuration informationtable group 4130.

This completes the process by the information collection program 4120acquiring the information of the range determined by the informationacquisition method determination program 4140 from the storage subsystem1000 or the host computer 2000 at the timing determined by theinformation acquisition method determination program 4140.

<Registration Process of Management Task>

FIG. 18 is a flow chart for explaining a process of registering amanagement operation in the configuration management program 4110 whenthe manager (user) instructs execution of a management operation for thestorage subsystem 1000 or the host computer 2000 through the userinterface of the configuration management program 4110.

In step S4000, when the manager instructs the execution of themanagement operation for the storage subsystem 1000 or the host computer2000 through the user interface of the configuration management program4110, the configuration management program 4110 receives theinstruction.

In step S4010, the configuration management program 4110 registers themanagement operation for the storage subsystem 1000 or the host computer2000 in the management task table 4160.

This completes the process of registering the management operation forthe storage subsystem 1000 or the host computer 2000 in theconfiguration management program 4110. If the user wants to immediatelyexecute the management operation for the storage subsystem 1000 or thehost computer 2000, the user can designate the current date/time as theexecution date/time of the management task.

<Execution Process of Management Task>

FIG. 19 is a flow chart for explaining a process when the configurationmanagement program 4110 executes a management operation for the storagesubsystem 1000 or the host computer 2000 according to the presentembodiment. The process of FIG. 19 is executed in a different threadfrom other processes (such as the processes of FIGS. 15 and 18).Therefore, the process of FIG. 19 is executed in parallel with the otherprocesses.

In step S5000, the configuration management program 4110 periodicallyrefers to the management task table 4160. The time interval of theconfiguration management program 4110 to referring to the managementtask table 4160 may be predetermined, or the user may designate the timeinterval.

In S5010, the configuration management program 4110 compares the currentdate/time and the execution date/time 41601 of the management task table4160 to determine whether the current date/time corresponds to theexecution date/time 41601 of the management task or whether the currentdate/time is over the execution date/time 41601. Since the timing ofcomparison with the task execution date/time set on the table may bedeviated in some degree depending on the period (timing) of referencingthe management task table, whether the time “is over” is alsodetermined.

If the current date/time does not correspond to the execution date/time41601 of the management task and if the current date/time is not overthe execution date/time 41601 (No in step S5010), the process moves tostep S5000. On the other hand, if the current date/time corresponds tothe execution date/time 41601 of the management task or if the currentdate/time is over the execution date/time 41601 (Yes in step S5010), theprocess moves to step S5020.

In step S5020, the configuration management program 4110 executes themanagement operation (management task) for the storage subsystem 1000 orthe host computer 2000. Examples of the management operation include,but not limited to, an operation of creating the logical volumes 1110from the pools 1120 and an operation of allocating the logical volumes1110 to the host computer 2000.

In step S5030, the configuration management program 4110 instructs theinformation acquisition method determination program 4140 to execute theinformation acquisition method determination process to reflect, in theconfiguration information table group 4130, the configuration of thestorage subsystem 1000 or the host computer 2000 changed by themanagement operation executed in step S5020. In response to theinstruction, the information acquisition method determination program4140 executes the information acquisition method determination process.Details of the information acquisition method determination process areas shown in FIG. 16.

In step S5040, the configuration management program 4110 instructs theinformation collection program 4120 to execute the informationcollection process, and in response to the instruction, the informationcollection program 4120 acquires the information of the storagesubsystem 1000 or the host computer 2000. Details of the informationacquisition process are as shown in FIG. 17.

Lastly, in step S5050, the configuration management program 4110 deletesthe management task executed in step S5030 from the management tasktable 4160. When the deletion is finished, the process moves to stepS5000.

This completes the process of executing the management operation(management task) for the storage subsystem 1000 or the host computer2000 and the process of reflecting, in the configuration informationtable group 4130, the configuration of the storage subsystem 1000 or thehost computer 2000 changed by the management operation. To reflect theconfiguration information changed by the management operation in theconfiguration information table group 4130, the information of allresources of the storage subsystem 1000 or the host computer 2000 as themanagement operation target may not be necessarily acquired again. Forexample, a condition “detailed information of the resources related tothe management operation is acquired and held if the managementoperation is executed for the storage with 5000 or fewer volumes” can bestored in the information acquisition condition table 4150 to avoidreacquisition of the information of all resources of the storagesubsystem 1000 or the host computer 2000.

<Failure Information Reception Process>

FIG. 20 is a flow chart for explaining a process when the configurationmanagement program 4110 receives information of a failure in the storagesubsystem 1000 or the host computer 2000 from the storage failurenotification program 1213 or the host failure notification program 2130according to the present embodiment.

In step S6000, the configuration management program 4110 receivesinformation of a failure in the storage subsystem 1000 or the hostcomputer 2000 notified from the storage failure notification program1213 or the host failure notification program 2130.

In step S6010, the configuration management program 4110 stores thereceived information of the failure in the configuration informationtable group 4130.

In step S6020, the configuration management program 4110 instructs theinformation acquisition method determination program 4140 to execute theinformation acquisition method determination process, and in response tothe instruction, the information acquisition method determinationprogram 4140 executes the information acquisition method determinationprocess. As a result, the range and timing of acquiring the informationrelated to the failure is determined. Details of the informationacquisition method determination process are as shown in FIG. 16.

In step S6030, the configuration management program 4110 instructs theinformation collection program 4120 to execute the informationcollection process, and the information collection program 4120 executesthe information acquisition process to acquire the information of therange determined in step S6020 at the timing determined in step S6020.Details of the information acquisition process are as shown in FIG. 17.

<Information Display Process>

FIG. 21 is a flow chart for explaining a process when the configurationmanagement program 4110 displays the configuration information of thestorage subsystem 1000 or the host computer 2000 through the userinterface according to the present embodiment.

In step S7000, the configuration management program 4110 determineswhether the detailed information of the resources included in thestorage subsystem 1000 or the host computer 2000 need to be displayed.The necessity is determined by, for example, whether the manager hasrequested the display through the user interface.

If the display of the detailed information of the resources is notnecessary (therefore, only basic information, such as identifiers, needsto be displayed) (No in step S7000), the process moves to step S7030. Onthe other hand if the display of the detailed information of theresources is necessary (Yes in step S7000), the process moves to stepS7010.

In step S7010, the configuration management program 4110 refers to theconfiguration information table group 4130 to further determine whetherthe detailed information of the display target resources is acquired.

If the detailed information of the display target resources is acquired(Yes in step S7010), the process moves to step S7030. On the other hand,if the detailed information of the display target resources is not yetacquired (No in step S7010), the process moves to step S7020.

In step S7020, the configuration management program 4110 instructs theinformation collection program 4120 to execute the informationacquisition process to acquire the detailed information of the displaytarget resources, and in response to the instruction, the informationcollection program 4120 acquires the detailed information of theresources. Details of the information acquisition process are as shownin FIG. 17.

In step S7030, the configuration management program 4110 displays theinformation of the resources through the user interface.

<Examples of User Interface>

FIGS. 22 and 23 are diagrams showing examples of configuration of a userinterface of the configuration management program 4110 according to theembodiment of the present invention. FIG. 22 is a user interface showinglist display of the resources. FIG. 23 is a user interface showingdetailed display of a logical volume.

(i) In FIG. 22, a user interface 41100 of the resource list displayincludes, as configuration areas, a storage subsystem tree display area41101, a storage subsystem profile display area 41102, and a logicalvolume list display area 41103.

The storage subsystem tree 41101, managed in the computer system 100, isan area showing the storage subsystems 1000 capable of the list displayof the resources, and one of the storage subsystems 1000 can beselected. It is assumed in FIG. 22 that the manager (user) selects ST.1.

The storage subsystem profile 41102 is an area showing the total numberof volumes of the selected storage subsystem. However, the area mayinclude other information.

The logical volume list 41103 is an area for displaying a list of thelogical volumes included in the selected storage subsystem and includesa logical volume listing 41104 and a detail display button 41105. Thelogical volume listing 41104 displays, for each logical volume, basicinformation including the volume ID as information for identifying thelogical volume, the pool ID as information for identifying the pool towhich the logical volume belongs, the host ID as information foridentifying the host computer that uses the logical volume, and the hostIP address as information indicating the IP address of the hostcomputer. One logical volume can be selected by a radio button in thelogical volume listing 41104, and when the detail display button 41105 f215 is pressed after the selection, a detail display screen shown inFIG. 23 is displayed for the selected logical volume.

The display of FIG. 22 is performed in accordance with the process ofthe flow chart of FIG. 21. Since the detailed information is notnecessary when the user interface is displayed based on FIG. 22, thedetermination result of step S7000 is No, and the configurationmanagement program 4110 displays only the basic information of theresources. Meanwhile, as described, if the manager (user) presses the“detail display” button when one logical volume is selected, the processbased on the flow chart of FIG. 21 is executed to display the “detaildisplay screen” based on FIG. 23. Therefore, since the detailedinformation is necessary upon the display of FIG. 23, the determinationresult of step S7000 is Yes.

(ii) In FIG. 23, the user interface 41110 of the logical volume detaildisplay includes, as display items, logical volume information 41111including the detailed information of the target logical volume, cut-outsource pool information 41112 including the detailed information of thepool of the cut-out source of the target logical volume, and allocatedhost information 41113 as information for specifying the host computerallocated to the target logical volume.

In the logical volume information 41111, the storage sub ID and thevolume ID are the basic information, and the capacity, the RAID level,and the media type are the detailed information acquired in step S7020of FIG. 21.

In the cut-out source pool information 41112, the pool ID is basicinformation, and the capacity, the free capacity, and the pool type arethe detailed information acquired in step S7020 of FIG. 21.

If, for example, the detailed information of LU.1 of ST.1 is notacquired (only the information of LU.1 of ST. 1 shown in FIG. 7 isincluded), the determination result of step S7010 of FIG. 21 is No. Thedetailed information of LU.1 of ST.1 is acquired in step S7020. Lastly,FIG. 23 is displayed based on the process of step S7030.

B. Second Embodiment Configuration of Computer System

FIG. 24 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a computersystem 200 according to a second embodiment of the present invention.The computer system 200 includes first storage subsystems 1000 b, thehost computer 2000, the switch apparatus 3000, a management computer4000 b, the switch apparatus 5000, and second storage subsystems 6000.In FIG. 24, there are two first storage subsystems 1000 b, two secondstorage subsystems 6000, one host computer 2000, one switch apparatus3000, one management computer 4000 b, and one switch apparatus 5000.However, the arrangement is not limited to this as long as there is oneor more of each component. Most of the configuration is the same as theconfiguration of the first embodiment, and only the differences will bedescribed.

The differences from the computer system 100 shown in FIG. 1 are thatthe first storage subsystem 1000 b includes a storage virtualizationprogram 1214 b and a data copy program 10

b, a table constituting a storage configuration information table group1212 b is different, and the configuration of an information acquisitioncondition table 4150 b included in the management computer 4000 b isdifferent. The configuration of the second storage subsystems 6000 arethe same as that of the first storage subsystems 1000, and thedescription will not be repeated.

The storage virtualization program 1214 b is a program for realizing avirtualization function. Specifically, the storage virtualizationprogram 1214 b has a function of mapping logical volumes 6110 in thesecond storage subsystems 6000 connected through the switch apparatus3000 to the logical volumes 1110 in the first storage subsystems 1000 b.As a result, the logical volumes 6110 of the second storage subsystems6000 can be provided to the host computer 2000 as logical volumes of thefirst storage subsystems 1000 b. In the present embodiment, for example,virtualization functions disclosed in Patent Literatures 2 and 3 can beused. The virtualization function may be realized by the switchapparatus 3000. The first storage subsystems 1000 b and the secondstorage subsystems 6000 may be in a one-to-one relationship, one-to-manyrelationship, many-to-one relationship, or many-to-many relationship.

The data copy program 1215 b is a program for copying data stored in alogical volume to another logical volume. The logical volume of the copysource and the logical volume of the copy destination may be on the samestorage subsystem or may be on a different storage subsystem. Forexample, in copying of data from the logical volume 1110(1) to thelogical volume 1110(2) on the first storage subsystem 1000 b, the copyof the data by the program is realized by transferring the data throughthe disk I/F 1250 of the first storage subsystem 1000 b. Meanwhile, incopying of data from the logical volume 1110 on the first storagesubsystem 1000 b to the logical volume 6110 on the second storagesubsystem 6000, the copy of the data by the program is realized bytransferring the data through the I/F(A) 1230 of the first storagesubsystem 1000 b, the I/F(A) 3100 included in the switch apparatus 3000,and an I/F(A) 6230 of the second storage subsystem 6000.

<Storage Configuration Information Table Group>

FIG. 25 is a diagram showing an example of configuration of the storageconfiguration information table group 1212 b according to the secondembodiment.

The differences between the storage configuration information tablegroup 1212 shown in FIG. 2 and the storage configuration informationtable group 1212 b shown in FIG. 25 are that the configuration of aphysical resource allocation table 12121 b is different from that of thephysical resource allocation table 12121 in the first embodiment, andthe storage configuration information table group 1212 b includes a copyinformation table 12122 b.

<Example of Detailed Configuration of Physical Resource AllocationTable>

FIG. 26 is a diagram showing an example of configuration of the physicalresource allocation table 12121 b according to the second embodiment.

The differences between the physical resource allocation table 12121shown in FIG. 4 and the physical resource allocation table 12121 b shownin FIG. 26 are that the physical resource allocation table 12121 bincludes a storage ID 121213 b for identifying the storage subsystems,and a resource ID 121214 b is included in place of the physical resourceID 121213.

In the present embodiment, not only the storage regions of the physicalresources 1121 included in the first storage subsystems 1000 b, but alsothe storage regions of the logical volumes 6110 included in the secondstorage subsystems 6000 can be allocated to the segments of the logicalvolumes 1110. Therefore, if the storage regions of the logical volumes6110 included in the second storage subsystems 6000 are allocated to thesegments of the logical volumes 1110 (for example, a line with an LUN121210 b is “3” and a segment ID 121211 b “1” in FIG. 26), theinformation identifying the second storage subsystems 6000 is stored inthe storage ID 121213 b, and the information identifying the logicalvolumes 6110 included in the second storage subsystems 6000 is stored inthe resource ID 121214 b.

As in the first embodiment, if the storage regions of the physicalresources 1121 included in the storage subsystems 1000 b are allocatedto the segments of the logical volumes 1110, the information identifyingthe first storage subsystems 1000 b is stored in the storage ID 121213b, and the information identifying the physical resources 1121 is storedin the resource ID 121214 b. The method of showing the relationshipbetween virtualization and non-virtualization based on the storagevirtualization program is not limited to the expression of FIG. 26, andother methods may be used.

<Example of Detailed Configuration of Copy Information Table>

FIG. 27 is a diagram showing an example of detailed configuration of thecopy information table 12122 b according to the second embodiment. Thecopy information table 12122 b is a table storing information related tocopying between the logical volumes.

The copy information table 12122 b includes a copy source storage ID121220 b for identifying the storage subsystems including the logicalvolumes of copy source, a copy source LUN 121221 b for identifying thelogical volumes of copy source, a copy destination storage ID 121222 bfor identifying the storage subsystems including the logical volumes ofcopy destination, a copy destination LUN 121223 b for identifyinglogical volumes of copy destination, and a copy type 121224 b indicatingthe types of copying. Examples of the types of copying include “mirror”and “clone”. The “mirror” is a copy type of reflecting written data tothe logical volumes of copy destination if there is writing to thelogical volumes of copy source from the host computer 2000 after thecompletion of copying of data from the logical volumes of copy source tothe logical volumes of copy destination. The “clone” is a copy type ofnot reflecting written data to the logical volumes of copy destinationif there is writing to the logical volumes of copy source from the hostcomputer 2000 after the completion of copying from the logical volumesof copy source to the logical volumes of copy destination.

The information of the copy information table 12122 b is not limited tothe information shown in FIG. 25, and other information related tocopying between the logical volumes may be stored.

<Example of Configuration of Information Acquisition Condition Table>

FIG. 28 is a diagram showing an example of configuration of theinformation acquisition condition table 4150 b according to the secondembodiment. The difference between the information acquisition conditiontable 4150 according to the first embodiment and the informationacquisition condition table 4150 b according to the second embodiment isthat the information acquisition condition table 4150 b includesinformation acquisition conditions and information acquisition methodsrelated to storage virtualization and configurations of copying acrossthe storage subsystems.

<Content of Data Processing>

Most of the processes in the present embodiment are the same as theprocessing content of the first embodiment, and only the difference willbe described. The flow charts for explaining the processes of thepresent embodiment are similar to the flow charts of the firstembodiment. The difference between the processes in the first embodimentand the processes in the second embodiment is that the informationstored in the information acquisition condition table 4150 b shown inFIG. 28 is different from the information stored in the informationacquisition condition table 4150 shown in FIG. 13, and therefore, theresult of the process by the information acquisition methoddetermination program 4140 determining the range and timing of acquiringthe detailed information is different.

For example, the information acquisition condition table 4150 b includesan information acquisition method of always holding the detailedinformation of all resources included in the storage subsystems in whichone or more volumes are directly allocated to an arbitrary hostcomputer, as in a line with a condition ID 41500 b “1”. For example, ifall logical volumes 6110 included in the second storage subsystems 6000are virtualized as the logical volumes included in the storagesubsystems 1000 b, the logical volumes 6110 included in the secondstorage subsystems 6000 are not directly allocated to the host computer2000. In that case, the information acquisition method determinationprogram 4140 b instructs the information collection program 4120 not toacquire the detailed information of the second storage subsystems 6000in the present embodiment.

The control has, for example, the following advantages. In general, thetiming of the management operation for virtualizing the logical volumes6110 included in the second storage subsystems 6000 as the logicalvolumes included in the storage subsystems 1000 b tends to have temporalvariations in relation to the operation time of the computer system 200.More specifically, for example, there is a case of carrying outmanagement operations for virtualizing a plurality of or all of thelogical volumes 6110 included in the second storage subsystems 6000 allat once when the second storage subsystems 6000 are implemented. Ingeneral, the host computer 2000, the storage subsystems 1000 b, and theswitch apparatus 3000 connecting the host computer 2000 and the storagesubsystems 1000 b are often the main targets of the managementoperations in the operation of the computer system 200. There are casesin which the second storage subsystems 6000 are the targets of themanagement operations only when, for example, there is a failure.Furthermore, there is a tendency that the number of the second storagesubsystems 6000 is generally greater than the number of the storagesubsystems 1000 b. On the basis of the general tendencies, as thecondition indicated in the line with the condition ID 41500 b “1” in theinformation acquisition condition table 4150 b is included, themanagement computer 4000 does not always have to hold the configurationinformation of the large number of second storage subsystems 6000 thatare not frequently subjected to the management operations. Therefore,the computer system 200 can be efficiently managed.

In the information acquisition condition table 4150 b, the informationstored in the information acquisition method 41502 may be different fromthe information stored in the information acquisition method 41502 inthe first embodiment even if the information stored in the informationacquisition condition 41501 b and the information stored in theinformation acquisition condition 41501 in the first embodiment are thesame, as in the lines with the condition ID 41500 b “2” and “3”.Specifically, only the storage subsystems 1000 as the informationacquisition targets are the determination targets of the informationacquisition method in the information acquisition method 41502 in thefirst embodiment, while the first storage subsystems 1000 b as theinformation acquisition targets and the second storage subsystems 6000related to the storage subsystems are the determination targets of theinformation acquisition method in the information acquisition method41502 b of the second embodiment.

C. Third Embodiment Configuration of Computer System

FIG. 29 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a computersystem 300 according to a third embodiment of the present invention. Thecomputer system 300 includes the storage subsystems 1000, the hostcomputer 2000, the switch apparatus 3000, a management computer 4000 c,and the switch apparatus 5000. In FIG. 29, there are two storagesubsystems 1000, one host computer 2000, one switch apparatus 3000, onemanagement computer 4000 c, and one switch apparatus 5000. However, thearrangement is not limited to this as long as there is one or more ofeach component. Most of the present configuration is the same as theconfiguration of the first embodiment, and only the differences will bedescribed.

The differences from the computer system 100 shown in FIG. 1 are that aninformation last update date/time table 4138 c is included in aconfiguration information table group 4130 c (see FIG. 30) included inthe management computer 4000 c, the configuration of an informationacquisition condition table 4150 c included in the management computer4000 c is different from the configuration of the informationacquisition condition table 4150 in the first embodiment, and themanagement computer 4000 c includes an information holding policy table4170 c.

<Example of Configuration of Information Last Update Date/Time Table>

FIG. 31 is a diagram showing an example of configuration of theinformation last update date/time table 4138 c according to the thirdembodiment. The information last update date/time table 4138 c is atable included in the configuration information table group 4130 c shownin FIG. 30 and includes information indicating date/time of the lastacquisition of the configuration information of the storage subsystems1000 and the host computers 2000 by the information collection program4120.

The information last update date/time table 4138 c includes, asconfiguration items, a constituent element ID 41380 c for identifyingconstituent elements included in the storage subsystems 1000 and thehost computers 2000 and an information last update date/time 41381 cindicating date/time of the last acquisition of the information of theconstituent elements by the information collection program 4120. In thepresent embodiment, the constituent element ID 41380 c storesinformation connecting, by a symbol “:”, information for uniquelyidentifying the lines in the tables included in the configurationinformation table group 4130 c. However, the information is not limitedto this as long as the information uniquely identifies the constituentelements included in the storage subsystems 1000 and the host computers2000.

<Example of Configuration of Information Acquisition Condition Table>

FIG. 32 is a diagram showing an example of configuration of theinformation acquisition condition table 4150 c according to the thirdembodiment.

The difference between the information acquisition condition table 4150shown in FIG. 13 and the information acquisition condition table 4150 cshown in FIG. 32 is that the information acquisition condition table4150 c includes an information holding policy ID 41504 c. Theinformation holding policy ID 41504 c is information for uniquelyspecifying the lines of the information holding policy table 4170 c.

<Example of Configuration of Information Holding Policy Table>

FIG. 33 is a diagram showing an example of configuration of theinformation holding policy table 4170 c according to the thirdembodiment. The information holding policy table 4170 c is informationshowing policies related to methods of holding and discarding (rulesdefining methods of holding and discarding) the configurationinformation (detailed information) of the storage subsystems 1000 andthe host computers 2000 acquired by the information collection program4120.

The information holding policy table 4170 c includes a policy ID 41700 cfor uniquely identifying the information holding policies, a periodicupdate interval of condition corresponding information 41701 cindicating time intervals of the information collection program 4120periodically updating the information corresponding to the informationacquisition condition 41501 c of the information acquisition conditiontable 4150 c, a storage location of condition corresponding information41702 c indicating storage locations of the information corresponding tothe information acquisition condition 41501 c of the informationacquisition condition table 4150 c, a discard timing of conditioncorresponding information 41703 c indicating the timing of discardingthe information corresponding to the information acquisition condition41501 c of the information acquisition condition table 4150 c, a storagelocation of condition non-corresponding information 41704 c indicatingstorage locations when the information not corresponding to theinformation acquisition condition 41501 c of the information acquisitioncondition table 4150 c is acquired later, and a discard timing ofcondition non-corresponding information 41705 c indicating the timing ofdiscarding the information when the information not corresponding to theinformation acquisition condition 41501 c of the information acquisitioncondition table 4150 c is acquired later.

<Content of Data Processing>

Most of the processes in the present embodiment are the same as theprocessing content of the first embodiment, and only the differenceswill be described. The differences between the data processing in thefirst embodiment and the data processing in the present embodiment arethat the sequence of the process by the information collection program4120 acquiring the information of the storage subsystems 1000 and thehost computers 2000 is different, and the configuration managementprogram 4110 instructs the information collection program 4120 toperiodically update the information of the storage subsystems 1000 andthe host computers 2000 in the present embodiment. The differences willbe described below.

<Details of Information Acquisition Process>

FIG. 34 is a flow chart for explaining a process when the informationcollection program 4120 acquires the information of the storagesubsystem 1000 or the host computer 2000 according to the thirdembodiment. Steps S3000 c, S3010 c, S3020 c, S3040 c, S3050 c, and S3060c of the information acquisition process shown in FIG. 34 are the sameas steps S3000, S3010, S3020, S3040, S3050, and S3060 of the informationacquisition process shown in FIG. 17, and the description will not berepeated.

In the information acquisition process shown in FIG. 34, the informationcollection program 4120 refers to the information acquisition conditiontable 4150 c and the information holding policy table 4170 c in stepS3030 c to determine the storage location of the information and storesthe information (detailed information) of the storage subsystems 1000 inthe configuration information table group 4130 c.

In step S3070 c, the information collection program 4120 refers to theinformation acquisition condition table 4150 c and the informationholding policy table 4170 c to determine the storage location of theinformation and stores the information of the host computer 2000 in theconfiguration information table group 4130 c.

As a result of the process, the information of the storage subsystem1000 or the host computer 2000 acquired by the information collectionprogram 4120 can be stored in storage location media (secondary storagedevice such as a memory and an HDD) compliant with the informationholding policy (see FIG. 33).

<Periodical Information Update Process>

FIG. 35 is a flow chart for explaining a process when the configurationmanagement program 4110 instructs the information collection program4120 to periodically update the information of the storage subsystems1000 and the host computers 2000 according to the third embodiment. Theprocess shown in FIG. 35 is executed in a different thread from theother processes of the configuration management program 4110. Therefore,the process of FIG. 35 is executed in parallel with the other processes.

In step S8000, the configuration management program 4110 periodicallyrefers to the information last update date/time table 4138 c, theinformation acquisition condition table 4150 c, and the informationholding policy table 4170 c.

In step S8010 c, the configuration management program 4110 determineswhether the time indicated by the periodic update interval of conditioncorresponding information 41701 c of the information holding policytable 4170 c has passed since the information last update date/time41381 c of the information last update date/time table 4138 c.

If the time indicated by the periodic update interval of conditioncorresponding information 41701 c of the information holding policytable 4170 c has passed the information last update date/time 41381 c ofthe information last update date/time table 4138 c (Yes in step S8010),the process moves to step S8020. On the other hand, if the timeindicated by the periodic update interval of condition correspondinginformation 41701 c of the information holding policy table 4170 c hasnot passed the information last update date/time 41381 c of theinformation last update date/time table 4138 c (No in step S8010), theprocess moves to step S8000.

In step S8020, the configuration management program 4110 instructs theinformation collection program 4120 to execute the informationacquisition process in relation to the resource, and in response to theinstruction, the information collection program 4120 acquires thedetailed information of the resource. Details of the process of step8020 are as shown in FIG. 34.

As a result of the process, the information of the storage subsystems1000 and the host computers 2000 can be periodically updated at a timeinterval compliant with the information holding policy.

D. Conclusion (1) First Embodiment

A management computer (management software) first acquires basicconfiguration information (including only fixed information in whichvalues do not change for an object as a management target during systemoperation) at least including identifiers of constituent elements ofstorage devices and host computers as well as correspondencerelationships between the constituent elements, when, for example, theinformation is set. Based on a detailed information acquisition rule(information acquisition condition table: see FIG. 13) indicatingacquisition conditions and acquisition methods for acquiring detailedconfiguration information (information necessary to monitor and managethe object as the management target) of the constituent elements thatincludes information in which values change as the storage system(computer system) is operated, the management computer acquires thedetailed configuration information corresponding to the basicconfiguration information. The detailed information acquisition rule maybe constituted by combinations of the plurality of acquisitionconditions and the plurality of acquisition methods corresponding to theacquisition conditions, and information of the acquisition methods mayinclude information related to a range and timing of acquiring thedetailed configuration information. In this case, the managementcomputer determines, for each of the plurality of acquisitionconditions, whether there is the constituent element satisfying theacquisition condition and acquires the detailed configurationinformation based on the determination result and the correspondingacquisition method. As a result, the range and timing of holding thedetailed information in the configuration information of the storagesystem can be appropriately controlled, and therefore, the managementsoftware can efficiently manage the storage system even if the storagesystem is enlarged. The targets managed by the management software arenot limited to the storage subsystems, the host computers, the switches,and the hubs, but may include application programs and the like operatedon the host computer.

The management computer acquires the detailed configuration informationof all constituent elements in one or more storage subsystems and one ormore host computers if none of the plurality of acquisition conditionsis satisfied. As a result, mistakes in acquiring the detailedinformation can be prevented.

The management computer may hold at least management task information(see FIG. 14) defining a management target and content of a task for themanagement target. In this case, the management computer checks whetherthe detailed configuration information necessary to execute each taskincluded in the management task information is acquired. The managementcomputer then acquires missing detailed configuration information fromat least one of the storage subsystems and the host computers beforeexecution of the task. As a result, configuration information of themanagement target (such as creation and copying of logical volumes)changed by a management operation can be entirely and surely acquiredbefore the management task.

The management computer lists the basic configuration information on adisplay screen through a user interface related to list display ofresources. When the manager (user) selects a management target (forexample, logical volume), for which the user wants to display details onthe user interface of the list display, the management computer displaysthe detailed configuration information of the constituent element on adisplay screen through a user interface of detailed display in responseto the selection operation. As a result, the management target that themanager wants to know can be provided to the manager in an easilyviewable way.

(2) Second Embodiment

The computer system includes: a first storage subsystem that directlyprovides logical volumes of the first storage subsystem to the hostcomputers; and a second storage subsystem virtualized to provide atleast one logical volume to the host computers as a logical volume ofthe first storage subsystem. In this case, the management computerdetermines whether the second storage subsystem includes a logicalvolume directly allocated to the host computers in addition to thevirtualized logical volume, and only if so, acquires the detailedconfiguration information related to the constituent elements of thesecond storage subsystem. On the other hand, the management computerdoes not acquire the detailed configuration information of theconstituent elements if the second storage subsystem provides only thevirtualized logical volume to the host computers. As a result, necessarydetailed information can be acquired even if the storage subsystem isvirtualized, and the management target can be set only if thevirtualized storage subsystem is directly related to the host computer.Therefore, a device as the management target can be efficiently managed.

In relation to copying of storage (local copy or remote copy), themanagement computer may manage information related to the storage andthe logical volume of the copy source as well as the storage and thelogical volume of the copy destination.

As a result, even if there is a relationship between the storagesubsystems, such as storage virtualization and copying across thestorage subsystems, the management software can appropriately controlthe range and timing of holding the detailed information in theconfiguration information of the storage system. Therefore, the storagesystem can be efficiently managed even if the storage system isenlarged.

(3) Third Embodiment

The management computer includes an information holding policy defininga rule related to at least a storage location and discard of thedetailed configuration information (basic information may be managed) ofthe constituent elements and manages the storage and discard of theacquired detailed configuration information based on the informationholding policy. The information holding policy includes informationdefining update timing (such as update period) of the detailedconfiguration information, and the management computer further managesupdate history information managing last update date/time of thedetailed configuration information. The management computer compares thelast update date/time and the update timing included in the informationholding policy to determine necessity of the update of the detailedconfiguration information and acquires the detailed configurationinformation based on the detailed information acquisition rule if theupdate is necessary. As a result, the method (interval of periodicalupdate of information and storage location of information) of holdingthe information of the storage subsystems and the host computers can beappropriately controlled in accordance with the policy, and the computersystem can be efficiently managed even if the computer system isenlarged.

(4) Additional Aspect of the Invention

The present invention can be realized by a program code of software forrealizing the functions of the embodiments. In that case, a storagemedium recording the program code is provided to a system or anapparatus, and a computer (or CPU or MPU) of the system or the apparatusreads out the program code stored in the storage medium. In that case,the program code read out from the storage medium realizes the functionsof the embodiments, and the program code and the storage medium storingthe program code constitute the present invention. Examples of thestorage medium for supplying the program code includes a flexible disk,a CD-ROM, a DVD-ROM, a hard disk, an optical disk, a magneto-opticaldisk, a CD-R, a magnetic tape, a nonvolatile memory card, and a ROM.

An OS (operating system) or the like operated on the computer mayexecute part or all of the actual processes based on an instruction ofthe program code, and the processes may realize the functions of theembodiments. A CPU or the like of the computer may execute part or allof the actual processes based on an instruction of the program codeafter the program code read out from the storage medium is written in amemory on the computer, and the processes may realize the functions ofthe embodiments.

The program code of the software for realizing the functions of theembodiments may be distributed through a network to store the programcode in a storage section, such as a hard disk and a memory of a systemor an apparatus, or in a storage medium, such as a CD-RW and a CD-R, anda computer (or CPU or MPU) of the system or the apparatus may read outthe program code stored in the storage section or the storage mediumupon use to execute the program code.

Lastly, it needs to be understood that the processes and the techniquesdescribed herein are essentially not related to any specific apparatusesbut can be implemented by any suitable combinations of the components.Furthermore, various types of general-purpose devices can be used inaccordance with the teaching described herein. It may be understood thatconstruction of a dedicated apparatus may be beneficial to execute stepsof the methods described herein. Appropriate combinations of a pluralityof constituent elements disclosed in the embodiments can form variousinventions. For example, some constituent elements may be deleted fromall constituent elements illustrated in the embodiments. Furthermore,constituent elements across different embodiments may be appropriatelycombined. Although the present invention has been described in relationto specific examples, the specific examples are not for the restrictionsin any sense, but are for the description. Those skilled in the artwould understand that there are a multiplicity of combinations ofhardware, software, and firmware suitable for carrying out the presentinvention. For example, the described software can be implemented by awide range of programs or script languages, such as assembler, C/C++,perl, Shell, PHP, and JAVA (registered trademark).

In the embodiments, control lines and information lines considerednecessary for the description are illustrated, and all control lines andinformation lines of the product may not be necessarily illustrated. Allconfigurations may be connected to each other.

In addition, those with general knowledge of the technical field wouldrecognize other implementations of the present invention from theexamination of the disclosed description and/or embodiments of thepresent invention. Various modes and components of the describedembodiments can be used individually or by any combinations in acomputerized storage system with a function of managing data. Thedescription and the specific examples are only typical ones, and thescope and the spirit of the present invention are illustrated in thefollowing claims.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST

-   1000, 1000 b, 1000 c storage subsystems-   1100 disk apparatus-   1110 logical volume-   1120 pool-   1121 physical resource-   1200 disk controller-   1210 memory-   1211 storage information acquisition program-   1212, 1212 b storage configuration information table groups-   1213 storage failure notification program-   1214 b storage virtualization program-   1215 b data copy program-   1220 control apparatus-   1230 I/F(A)-   1240 I/F(B)-   1250 disk I/F-   2000 host computer-   2100 memory-   2110 application program-   2120 host information acquisition program-   2130 host failure notification program-   2200 control apparatus-   2300 I/F(A)-   2400 I/F(B)-   3000 switch apparatus-   3100 I/F(A)-   3200 I/F(B)-   4000, 4000 b management computers-   4100 memory-   4110 configuration management program-   4120 information collection program-   4130, 4130 c configuration information table groups-   4131 storage information table-   4132 volume information table-   4133 pool information table-   4134 physical resource information table-   4135 host information table-   4136 host relationship information table-   4137 volume allocation information table-   4138 c information last update date/time table-   4140 information acquisition method determination program-   4150, 4150 b, 4150 c information acquisition condition tables-   4160 management task table-   4170 c information holding policy table-   4200 control apparatus-   4300 I/F-   5000 switch apparatus-   5100 I/F(A)-   5200 I/F(B)-   5300 I/F(C)-   6000 second storage subsystem-   6100 disk apparatus-   6110 logical volume-   6120 pool-   6121 physical resource-   6200 disk controller-   6210 memory-   6220 control apparatus-   6230 I/F(A)-   6240 I/F(B)-   6250 disk I/F

The invention claimed is:
 1. A computer system comprising: a storagedevice comprising a physical resource and a storage region constitutedby the physical resource; a host computer comprising a storage regionallocated from the storage device; and a management computer configuredto manage the storage device and the host computer and storing anacquisition rule, wherein the acquisition rule includes a plurality ofacquisition conditions and a plurality of acquisition methodscorresponding to the acquisition conditions, and wherein the managementcomputer is configured to: acquire a basic configuration informationwhich does not change as the computer system is operated; determinewhether a component of the computer system satisfies each of theplurality of acquisition conditions; and acquire, in response to thedetermination that there is a component that satisfies each of theplurality of acquisition conditions, a detailed configurationinformation which changes as the system is operated in accordance with amethod and a range described in each acquisition method of theacquisition rule.
 2. The computer system according to claim 1, whereinin the acquiring of the detailed configuration information, in responseto the determination that, for all of the acquisition conditions, thereis no component satisfying any one of the acquisition conditions, themanagement computer is configured to acquire the detailed configurationinformation of all components in the storage device and the hostcomputer.
 3. The computer system according to claim 1, wherein themanagement computer is configured to: hold at least management taskinformation defining a management target and content of a task for themanagement target; check whether the detailed configuration informationnecessary to execute the task included in the management taskinformation is acquired; and acquire missing detailed configurationinformation from at least one of the storage devices and the hostcomputers before execution of the task.
 4. The computer system accordingto claim 1, wherein the management computer is configured to: list thecomponent basic configuration information on a display screen through afirst user interface; and, in response to a selection by a userperformed through the first user interface, display the detailedconfiguration information of the components on the display screenthrough a second user interface different from the first user interface.5. The computer system according to claim 1, further comprising: a firststorage device configured to directly provide logical volumes of thefirst storage device to the host computer; and a second storage deviceconfigured to be virtualized to provide at least one logical volume tothe host computer as a logical volume of the first storage device,wherein the management computer is configured to: acquire the detailedconfiguration information related to the components of the secondstorage device only when the second storage device includes a logicalvolume directly allocated to the host computers in addition to thevirtualized logical volume; and not acquire the detailed configurationinformation of the components when the second storage device providesonly the virtualized logical volume to the host computer.
 6. Thecomputer system according to claim 1, wherein the management computerincludes an information holding policy defining a rule related to atleast storage and discard of the detailed configuration information ofthe components and manages the storage and discard of the acquireddetailed configuration information based on the information holdingpolicy.
 7. The computer system according to claim 6, wherein theinformation holding policy includes information defining update timingof the detailed configuration information, and the management computerincludes update history information managing last update date/time ofthe detailed configuration information, determines necessity of theupdate of the detailed configuration information based on the lastupdate date/time and the update timing included in the informationholding policy, and acquires the detailed configuration informationbased on the detailed information acquisition rule if the update isnecessary.